


What the stars said that night.

by baeconandeggs, exokcbx



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Astrology, Astronomy, Fluff, Humour, M/M, Romance, Smut, slight Chanyeol/Kyungsoo
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-22
Updated: 2019-05-22
Packaged: 2020-03-09 20:19:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 19,328
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18924325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/baeconandeggs/pseuds/baeconandeggs, https://archiveofourown.org/users/exokcbx/pseuds/exokcbx
Summary: “Is this you admitting that astrology is better than astronomy?”





	What the stars said that night.

**Author's Note:**

> **Prompt:** BAE239  
>  **Disclaimer: baeconandeggs/the mods is/are not the author/s of this story. Authors will be credited and tagged after reveals.** The celebrities' names/images are merely borrowed and do not represent who the celebrities are in real life. No offense is intended towards them, their families or friends. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No money is being made from this fictional work. No copyright infringement is intended.  
>   
> 
> **Author's Note:** Hi I’m really sorry if I messed up your prompt and you’re not happy with what I wrote. I hope at least someone enjoys this fic because I put a lot of time and effort into it and even though I’m not completely happy with it, I’m content. Uhh and a big shout out to my beta who helped me out a lot!

“This is it. This is my life. What am I going to do with myself? What will I tell my parents?”

Chanyeol laid on his back, his hair soft and spread out around his head on his pillow. His arms were outstretched and voice quivered slightly as he spoke to his college roommate and best friend.

“Stop being so dramatic Yeol you sound like an idiot,” Jongdae rolled his eyes and sighed from where he was sat on his own bed on the other side of their tiny college dorm room writing an essay. The place could fit two single beds, two study tables and two smaller-than-average wardrobes, but it was home and they were happy as long as they had each other. 

“But I didn’t get the job! I’m gonna be homeless once I’m out of here oh my god this is really it for me” Chanyeol groaned and squeezed his eyes shut, queasiness bubbling in his stomach as the weight of the situation settled. 

“Just apply for other jobs, I’m sure you’ll get one of them you’re in the top 5% of the school, smartass.” Jongdae took the pillow from behind his back and threw it at Chanyeol, it landed on top of his face with a muffled ‘oof’. 

“But I don’t want a different job Jongdae, I wanted this job. You know I’ve wanted to work at the Royal Observatory for like 5 years.”

Chanyeol is an astronomy major. When he was a young boy he lived through countless nights that seemed to last for days due to his parents’ arguing. Chanyeol was a simple boy who seeked simple solutions. The stars were pretty. The prettiest things he had ever seen, and so he made them his friends. He had other friends of course, his older sister Yoora, Jongdae and Minseok who lived down the road and even Jongin, Jongdae’s little brother, was a good friend to him when he needed it. 

But the stars were different, they listened to him, they let him cry and complain till his heart wore out. They shared his happiest moments, twinkled a wink while he talked about his first crush, the stars would shine comfort while he cried about his first break up. 

When Chanyeol was 14, he bought his first telescope. His parents had broken up by then, he lived with his mother and although he could sleep better, he still stayed awake with his friends. His first telescope was a cheap old thing, it made the stars look closer but they were blurry (not that he cared much).

At 16 Chanyeol got his first job, and saved enough to buy a Celestron, it was one of the cheaper models but it was far better than what he had before and so, he was happy. 

Chanyeol discovered the Royal Observatory at age 17, he collected masses of research about the place and eventually knew everything there was to know since its opening in 1676. His heart was set, at such a tender age, he had his hopes and his dreams all figured out. A boy with not much experience of the real world, determined to make things go his way. But the world didn’t work like that. The Universe didn’t work like that.

A simple boy who sought simple solutions to long and complicated equations. Chanyeol was a science boy by nature, physics was easy to him, maths was a simple tool that made physics even easier and through this he graduated top of his school earning himself a full scholarship to Seoul National University. His best friend Jongdae joined him, studying law, and together they got reunited with Minseok; a boy one year older than them who studied art. 

“Yeah well you didn’t get the job” Jongdae glanced at Chanyeol and saw sad eyes looking back. Jongdae sighed, “I’m not here to baby you Yeol, I’m trying to push you back on your feet and in the right direction.” Jongdae put his laptop down and went to sit by Chanyeol on the taller’s bed. 

“I don’t know where to go from here, I was so sure that my research would impress them,” Chanyeol was starting to look like a kicked puppy and Jongdae was starting to feel a little bit bad for his overgrown friend.

Jongdae ran his fingers through his friend’s hair and looked down at him fondly. “What have the stars told you Yeol?” Jongdae’s voice was softer now, almost soothing.

Chanyeols heart clenched at his words and he stared at the ceiling covered with glow in the dark star stickers, “The stars were aligned almost perfectly last night,” his voice was no more than a whisper, a small smile on his lips and his eyes completely glazed over as if he was looking deep into the galaxy itself. “The sky was clear, Sirius looked stunning. You’d believe he was only meters away.”

Jongdae loved it when Chanyeol spoke about the stars, goosebumps prickled all over his skin, he’d never known someone so passionate.

“Chanyeol…”  

Chanyeol turned his head to look at his friend, “Yes Jongdae?”

“How many times do I have to tell you to stop giving your stars names, it’s getting creepy” The smile fell from Chanyeol’s face and was replaced with a look of annoyance. He pulled his pillow around the back of his head to cover his ears from Jongdae’s loud laugh.

“I didn’t name it Jongdae, THAT’S ITS NAME!” Chanyeol flopped onto his back once more, the feeling of helplessness settling back in.

“I’ll tell you what Chanyeol, I have a friend who might be able to help you. He loves the stars, just as you do.” Jongdae was smug, this couldn’t be a good thing.

Chanyeol perked up at this “You know someone? Like connections? You know someone who works there? Jesus Jongdae why didn’t you-“ 

“No, listen. I know someone who can…tell you your destiny in a way,” Jongdae was speaking cautiously, he knew how Chanyeol would react.

“You mean a psychic? You want me, an astronomy major with a credible reputation, to go and see someone who will look at the stars and tell me I should get a latte instead of an americano tomorrow because ‘oh its bad for the universe’. Please Jongdae, don’t string me into that nonsense.” Chanyeol snorted at the thought.

Jongdae gave a small sigh and slipped him a little piece of paper with a dorm address on it, “He’s not a psychic Yeol, he’s a tarot reader. You know, he’s into astrology and all that.”

“HA! That’s even worse! Someone who will tell me what kind of person I am purely based on the month I’m born?” Chanyeol was giggling and Jongdae was clearly annoyed.

“Chanyeol, you ARE over dramatic and grumpy and it IS because you’re a Sagittarius” Jongdae rolled his eyes and huffed, “Just keep it, if you run out of options then you might change your mind.” Jongdae packed his things quickly, “I have a class in 10 minutes, good luck with figuring this out”

“I am not overdramatic OR grumpy! And I don’t even know what a Sagittarius is” Chanyeol yelled after him right before he heard the door close.

Chanyeol stared at the paper for a while before groaning for the millionth time that night before turning his lights off to sleep.

\---

The next morning was one of the worst Chanyeol had ever experienced in his 22 years of living. He woke up late, didn’t have time to shower, ran to class with toothpaste down his shirt and forgot to pack his notebooks so he couldn’t even take notes.

On his way home from class, he stepped in dog poo (seriously, who brings a dog onto campus?), he decided to throw away his shoes rather than clean them. Walking barefoot, he stepped on a particularly sharp rock and had to limp the rest of the way home.

Just before he opened his door, Kim Seolhyun who lived opposite him, opened her door, shoved her boyfriend out and threw a glass of water after him – which missed him completely and drenched the back of Chanyeol’s shirt. Ignoring the pleas of ‘Chanyeol I’m so sorry!’ he silently opened his door, giving Seolhyun a small nod of understanding before closing it.

Throwing himself on the bed, Chanyeol screamed into his pillow. He was exhausted. Why is this happening to him? Does he deserve it? Did he kill someone in a past life and this was his punishment? He worked so hard for his entire life, but it hadn’t paid off. He had never felt like such a failure.

Chanyeol is a scientist of sorts, his brain couldn’t help but think logically. Frustrated and determined to make things go his way, he flipped himself over, wiped his tears of frustration and stared long and hard at the glow in the dark stars stuck to his ceiling.

Something crumpled underneath him, he reached for a small piece of paper with an address and the words ‘BBH – Tarot card reader’. Chanyeol scoffed, is he really considering this? Maybe he should go, Jongdae said he should go if he ran out of options.

It was 6pm, Chanyeol was out of bed, showered and dressed by 6:30pm. He was at the address of the tarot reading at 7pm.

He raised a fist to knock but hesitated at the last second. Did he really believe this guy had the answers to his fate? At that moment, the door swung open to reveal a small boy, around Jongdae’s height. The boy is dressed in fluffy grey pyjamas and a bunny eye mask pushing back his black hair. Chanyeol thinks he has great skin.

“Can I help you?” the boy sounds bored already

“You have great skin” Chanyeol blurted out the words, brain unable to function properly for some reason.

“Excuse me?”

“I mean, um, I’m looking for the tarot reader.”

“Oh! That’s me!” the boy answered with an excited smile

“You’re BBH?” Chanyeol looked over him once more and wonders why he expected a woman dressed in robes and a turban.

“It’s Byun Baekhyun actually, you can call me Baekhyun! Give me a sec!” and with that, he slammed the door in Chanyeol’s face. On the other side of the door, Chanyeol could hear footsteps rushing around and furniture being moved. Once the door opened again, Chanyeol looked into a room that resembled a cheap movie set: sheer red scarves were thrown over lamps and what looked like a study desk had been pushed into the centre of the room, a stack of cards laying neatly on top of it.

“It sets the mood, right?” Baekhyun said with a smirk.

“What? What do you mean?” Chanyeol’s was cringing and spluttering at his suggestive words

“This is what you were expecting, right? Like in the movies HA!”

Baekhyun’s laugh was infectious, that was why Chanyeol found himself laughing too. Or maybe it was because he had realised how much of a scam this is.

“Oh you’re good Mr. Bee Bee Hach.” Chanyeol was talking through giggles, barely pronouncing words right.

Baekhyun continued to laugh, but it had died down slightly with confusion “What are you talking about? Hahaha, I haven’t even hahaha read your cards yet! Heheha”

Chanyeol burst into a new fit of laughter.

“You haven’t – hahahaha - oh you’re so good! How much was this scam going to cost me huh?” Chanyeol was now wiping tears from his eyes, but Baekhyun had stopped laughing completely.

“Scam? You’ve been here for less than two minutes and you’re already throwing that word around.” The annoyance in his voice was clear.

The shift in Baekhyun’s mood made Chanyeol uncomfortable, and defensive. “Come on, kid. I’m not like your other clients. I’m an astronomy major,” Chanyeol sounded proud, Baekhyun snorted.

“Ok then astronomy major, you should know how important the stars are,” Baekhyun was challenging him, Chanyeol was ready to fight.

“I know how important the stars are! It makes me sick that people like you use them to scam people.” 

“If you’re so offended by what I do then WHY ARE YOU HERE?” Baekhyun was shouting, who does this overgrown oaf think he is?

The words took a minute to sink in, then Chanyeol cringed, heat rising up his neck and turning his face red. He closed his eyes and let out a breath of air slowly, “I’m sorry. You’re right, I shouldn’t be here.”

Chanyeol gave a small bow in apology and turned to leave, unable to look the other in the eye. As he took the first step Baekhyun pulls on the sleeve of his hoodie, prompting him to stop.

“Hey. You obviously came for a reason, right?” Baekhyun was quieter, voice slightly hoarse from the shouting but still gentle.

Chanyeol looked up at him, uncertainty evident in his eyes.

“Let me read the cards,” Baekhyun met his eyes, “They might tell you what you need to know,”

Chanyeol took a second to contemplate before deciding he had nothing to lose, “Where should I sit?”

Baekhyun pulled out a chair on one side of the desk and motioned for Chanyeol to sit with a smile.

“I didn’t even get your name before you started insulting me,” Baekhyun sat down with a sigh.

“My name’s Chanyeol. And I didn’t insult you, just your career.”

Baekhyun snarled but decided it wasn’t worth another argument. He shuffled the deck of tarot cards and put them back down slowly.

“Cut the cards, Chanyeol,”

Chanyeol picked up the top half of the deck and lay it next to the bottom half.

Baekhyun then put the decks back together and started placing down cards on the table.

“This card,” he said as he put the first one down, “represents romance,”

“This one represents finances,” he placed a card next to the other but slightly below.

“This card represents health,” he placed it under the first one.

“And this one represents career,” he placed it opposite the finances card, so they were placed in an almost diamond shape.

“That one!” Chanyeol said pointing a thick finger towards the last card, “Read that one first, I don’t care about the others. You don’t have to read them at all if it saves me a bit of money,” Chanyeol was giddy now, childlike innocence showing through his composure.

“I can’t.” Baekhyun said simply, the same knowing smile stretching his face. “There’s an order to these cards Chanyeol, just like there’s an order to life,” Baekhyun was starting to make sense and it was irritating.

“Fine. Hurry up about the others, I don’t need the details,”

Baekhyun rolled his eyes, muttering ‘definitely a Sagittarius’ under his breath.

Baekhyun flipped over the first card and revealed a man and a woman, both laughing. They’re dressed in old Victorian style clothing and are surrounded by rose vines with sharp thorns. Baekhyun smiled softly for a moment, “You’ll find a new love – your one true love. You’ll go through a lot of pain to get there but… it’ll happen.” Baekhyun was staring intently at the card, “It also means y-“

“Yes yes I understand. New love. Pain. Nothing new in that department now move on,”

Baekhyun huffed but picked up the card for finances nonetheless. It had something similar to a compass in the centre but the symbols were strange. Each corner had a different creature sitting on a cloud; a lion, a man, an ox and an eagle all with wings.

“Are you a lucky person, Chanyeol?”

Chanyeol met Baekhyun’s eyes and his eyebrows furrowed thinking back on the day he had just experienced.

“No.” he deadpanned and Baekhyun smirked. Chanyeol was starting to hate that smirk.

“Well according to the wheel of fortune, you’re going to be very lucky in the future. Maybe you’ll have a brilliant idea, do something that will get you promoted. Something like that.”

Chanyeol thought about his research. The stars he had studied for months, at every opportunity just so he could add to his research about the X-rays emitting from a  _ white dwarf.  _ It wasn’t enough, he never discovered the meaning behind it; his brilliant idea never came and his research was left unfinished.

Baekhyun could see Chanyeol’s inner struggle and decided to move on.

“Hey,” Baekhyun snapped Chanyeol out of his thoughts, “don’t you wanna know about your health?” Baekhyun gave a reassuring smile and Chanyeol accepted with a small nod of his head.

“I work out,” Chanyeol had spoken before Baekhyun could even turn the card over. Baekhyun cleared his throat to release the urge to laugh.

“I’m sure you do big boy but these cards can talk about emotions as well as general health,” he flipped the card over and showed Chanyeol a naked figure with a red cloth covering its crotch, surrounded by stars. Chanyeol had a good feeling about this one.

“You’re promised good health, with that comes joy.”

It was Chanyeol’s turn to smirk now, those early mornings in the gym seemed to be paying off.

Baekhyun was lost in this card, like he had a strange level of love for it. “The sweetest feelings and finest arts develop where the star provides inspiration,” and for the first time during the night, Chanyeol agreed with Baekhyun.

Baekhyun moved on to the last card and hovered his hand over it, he flexed his fingers to grab it ever so slightly before a much larger hand grabbed his wrist.

“Stop.” 

“Stop what? Isn’t this what you’ve been wanting to know all night?” Baekhyun began tugging his arm away from Chanyeol causing the cards to shake and fall over one another.

“I don’t want to know!” Chanyeol was panicking, desperation in his voice.

“Yes you do, you coward!” Baekhyun was yelling again, still trying to free his wrist from Chanyeol’s hold.

Chanyeol let go of his wrist and pulled out his wallet, he stood up and slammed a few 10,000 won notes down before turning and leaving quietly.

 

\---

The next morning, Chanyeol woke with his heart pounding, the breathing exercises he did had no effect on his racing heart and so he was forced to go about his day with an unnerving feeling hanging around him. He itched to look to the stars for answers but he was already running late and the morning sky would make it hard to see his favourite friends. 

Chanyeol left the house later on with that same feeling, the hot shower unable to ease his nerves. He walked 5 minutes to the closest cafe ‘Seoul delites’ to meet with Yixing, a quiet boy with a soft personality. 

Yixing was a medicine major, hoping to follow the footsteps of his father. Chanyeol had met Yixing after a particularly rough night out with Jongdae, which included a group of unfriendly men and a short bar fight that ended with Yixing following Chanyeol and Jongdae out of the bar after they were kicked out. He pulled out his portable first aid kit from his brown leather satchel and tended to their wounds with his tender fingers, quite fitting for such a tender man. That was the same night he met Junmyeon, a man who had tried to enjoy a few quiet drinks with his best friend before he rushed to aid two ‘giant douchebag frat boys’ (Chanyeol thought that description was rather unfair considering they weren’t even in a fraternity). Despite the unruly setting in which they met, they all seemed to get along well afterwards. 

Chanyeol and Yixing sat together, now 8 months after their first meeting, talking about everything and anything over two cups of hot coffee and french pastries. Being a medical student, Yixing didn’t have a lot of free time so when the opportunity presented itself, Chanyeol would take any available time with Yixing and cling to it for as long as possible before his friend had to go study once again. 

Chanyeol told Yixing about his career struggles, he explained his thought process and what he did to try and come to a solution, he even included his strange night with the tarot reader - something he was quite determined to keep a secret. 

After he was finished, Yixing met his eyes and gave him a hard stare full of unspoken answers before glancing down, “Oh! Your cup is empty! I’ll go order you another,” and with that, his incredibly clever friend skipped over to the counter. 

Chanyeol groaned, this was typical Yixing. He wouldn’t tell him what he needed to hear, at least not right away. Yixing was giving him more time to figure things out for himself, he believed it was an essential part of his own life journey. Asking people for advice is great, but all opinions are biased, whether intended to be or not. ‘ _ What you discover on your own is always more satisfying than what someone else discovers for you _ ’ is what his friend would always tell him, Chanyeol simply thought he was far too young to be this wise. 

Somewhere along waiting for Yixing to return and answering texts from Jongdae, a small boy with black hair and round glasses approached him. He was wearing an apron, carrying a coffee and had a small name tag pinned to his shirt saying ‘Kyungsoo’. Chanyeol thought he was cute. 

“Your friend went to the bathroom and asked me to bring this over after I made it,” his voice was deep, unusually deep for his height and petite frame, but it was nice. 

“Thank you,” Chanyeol sounded breathless, maybe he was. Maybe it was due to the plump lips that transformed into a heart through the boys innocent smile. 

“No problem. I’m Kyungsoo,” he held out a hand for a handshake and Chanyeol took it, unexpecting of the firm grip that came along with it. 

“I’m Chanyeol,” he said it with a wide smile, the kind that made his eye twitch, the kind of smile that was only let out for special people. 

“And I’m Yixing,” Chanyeol flinched and retracted his hand at the sound of his friend giggling beside him. 

“Sorry, you looked like you were having an intimate moment,” Yixing gave a quick bow to Kyungsoo and sat back down opposite Chanyeol. 

“I need to get back to work anyway,” Kyungsoo gave a light laugh and looked down to hide his pink cheeks. 

“Wait!” Chanyeol shuffled forward, ready to physically stop the boy from leaving if he didn’t wait, “Can I give you my number before you go?” 

Kyungsoo returned his bashful smile with a nod while Yixing made fake gagging noises. 

 

\---

 

It was only two days later when Chanyeol ran into Baekhyun, waiting at backstage of the school’s theatre. Chanyeol had accompanied Jongdae to see his little brother, Jongin, who was a dance major, and preparing a piece for the end of semester show with his friend, Sehun. 

Chanyeol narrowed his eyes at the small man with whom he shared an eventful night with not too long ago, wondering how he ended up at a rehearsal show for freshmen. 

“Chanyeol!” Baekhyun recognised him immediately and bounded over, soft hair bouncing as he jogged. “How have you been since that night?” Baekhyun was talking in a quiet voice, close to Chanyeol as if they had shared something intimate. Chanyeol took a step back to put some distance between them and spoke confidently, hoping to show Jongdae and the other onlookers that he and this boy were nothing more than acquaintances at best. 

“Actually Baekhyun what you said is coming true, so thank you. Or not. I guess it would’ve happened whether I had went to you or not,” Chanyeol had his nose in the air looking away from the smaller but that didn’t stop Baekhyun sharing his joy.

“You mean you figured out your career destiny?” Baekhyun looked excited, “I knew you were spiritual, I could sense it but now that I know your zodiac is a monkey - oh! That also means you’re dominantly water element and-” he was rambling complete nonsense as far as Chanyeol could figure out.

Baekhyun stopped after Chanyeol’s face twisted into intense confusion and gave a nervous laugh. 

“You were born in 1992 right? Like Jongin’s brother?” Baekhyun had slowed down and taken a few steps closer to Chanyeol, diminishing the space he previously put between them. 

Chanyeol gave a tentative nod and Baekhyun beamed once again, “I knew it! Everything makes so much sense now! Your personality, the way you acted that night-” Baekhyun said the last part in a quiet voice and had fully resumed his position invading his personal space. “Oh but I was born in 1994, I’m a wood element so we’re not really compatible which is a shame because you’re so cute!” Chanyeol startled at the sudden confession but it didn’t seem to phase Baekhyun, who continued blabbering on about old chinese astrology until his name was called from beyond the theatre stage. 

“I have to go now, Luhan is calling me but I’m glad you figured out your career-”

Chanyeol stopped him at that point, “I didn’t,” he interrupted quickly before Baekhyun could bounce off with the wrong idea. “I didn’t figure out my career ‘destiny’” Chanyeol explained using quotation marks around the last word. “I meant about my love life, you told me I’d find the love of my life after going through a lot of pain right? Well I’ve already been through pain and I met someone over the weekend, I have a really good feeling about him too. So..thanks?” Chanyeol finished with a small smile, he felt good about himself. He had cleared up any messy thoughts the smaller had about him and even thanked him in the process. 

Baekhyun let the smile fall from his face, he was usually good at keeping his emotions hidden but he couldn’t explain the tight chest pains that had hit him once Chanyeol told him the good news. Chanyeol turned to leave, with a small nod and the excuse that he needs to go back to Jongdae.

They weren’t made for each other, Baekhyun knew that much. Chanyeol was water and he was wood, but wood, too, needed moisture to survive. 

Four hours later rehearsal was over, Jongdae headed home some hours before the end and left Chanyeol who had fallen asleep on one of the couches in the dressing rooms. Baekhyun insisted on waking him up so he could leave with his friend but Jongdae refused, adamant that Chanyeol needed the sleep after countless nights filled with stress. 

One by one the performers left the theatre and Baekhyun stood around chewing his lip, not sure when he should wake Chanyeol who was sprawled across a couch that was far too small to fit his body. Soon enough he was the last one left on stage, if he didn’t wake Chanyeol now then he’d most likely be locked in there all night and his conscience was too pure to allow that to happen. 

He opened the door to the dressing room slowly, like he was afraid to wake him even though that was what he was there to do. Baekhyun tiptoed over to the giant sleeping figure and gave a slight poke to his arm, feeling the hard muscle underneath and retracting it immediately. He stood still for a minute contemplating what to do before Chanyeol started to stir below him. He opened his eyes and saw a smiling Baekhyun above him, light bulb behind his head giving his hair a halo effect and for a strange moment Chanyeol believed he was looking at an angel. 

“Can I help you?” Chanyeol’s voice was gruff, thick with sleep and a hazy confusion. 

“Jongdae left a while ago, everyone else has gone home too,” Baekhyun gave an apologetic smile when Chanyeol shot up and his words, pulling his phone out to check the time. He groaned loudly seeing the time 11:56 pm glowing back at him. 

“You live in the dorms behind the bus station right? With Jongdae?” Baekhyun asked quietly, almost afraid of rejection that may come. 

“Yeah, I do,” Chanyeol answered rubbing his eyes and pulling his shoes back on. 

“Do you wanna walk home together?” Chanyeol remembered that Baekhyun’s dorm was only a few streets away from his own but he still felt the need to deny him, he didn’t want to lead the little one on. “Can I be honest?” Baekhyun asked after a moment of silence. Chanyeol simply looked at him as an invitation to continue. “I’m scared to walk home alone,” Baekhyun said it with a huff. 

“Aren’t your friends still here?” Chanyeol asked while pulling on his jacket, watching the way Baekhyun’s hair bounced as he shook his head. 

“They left, and well I didn’t want to leave you here so I stayed to wake you,” Baekhyun’s eye smile was warm in Chanyeol’s heart and spread through his whole chest. 

“I’ll walk you home,” Chanyeol said it with his head down, feet already taking him towards the door. “But if you start talking about astrology again then I’m running home and leaving you,” he added as he held the door open, Baekhyun simply giggled and bounded after him. 

The night was cold, Baekhyun shivered and Chanyeol wondered who would be stupid enough not to wear a jacket in the middle of autumn. 

They walked in silence save for Chanyeol commenting on the weather, an uneasy feeling coming over him from Baekhyun’s silence. 

“You’re awfully quiet today,” Chanyeol spoke quietly, afraid of disrupting the peace of the empty streets. 

Baekhyun gave a nervous laugh, “Yeah, I’m just happy I guess,” 

“Happy that I’m walking you home?” Chanyeol smirked, Baekhyun was annoying and frustrating but he wouldn’t deny that he was cute. 

“No one’s ever agreed to walk me home before,” Baekhyun’s voice was a whisper but Chanyeol could still hear him and his heart sunk slightly. 

“Are you afraid of the dark?” Chanyeol teased. 

“Afraid of being beat up,” Baekhyun scoffed, saying it so casually while Chanyeol’s heart sank to the very bottom of his stomach. 

Chanyeol gave a little laugh and shook his head in disbelief, “I don’t believe that. You were probably friends with everyone considering your personality.” 

Baekhyun put his head down and wrapped his arms around himself, the little prickles of goosebumps not going unnoticed by Chanyeol. “You’re serious?” The disbelief never left Chanyeol’s voice even though he already believed it, “Why?”

“I was different.” Baekhyun said it with certainty and although he wasn’t specific, Chanyeol already knew what he meant. 

Just as Chanyeol was about to respond with something comforting, Baekhyun spoke again. “The stars - astrology. It helped me through it,” the shake in Baekhyun’s voice showing. “I read a stupid horoscope one night after being jumped on my way home, it said I would pull through and prosper after hard times and that all I needed to do was be positive and surround myself with the right people to bring more positive energy. I didn’t have any friends at the time but after coming to Seoul, I met Sehun and Jongin.” Baekhyun gave a small laugh, “Things really did get better after that and I just became obsessed with reading about tarots and astrology and anything that would help me find myself whenever life was too much for me.” Baekhyun’s eyes were slightly glassed over, he had stopped walking and was stood staring up at the sky. The stars were barely visible through all of the light pollution but he was staring like he could see it all. Chanyeol swallowed the lump in his throat and pushed back the memories of the times when he only had the stars to guide him, the urge to remain emotionless in front of Baekhyun forcing him to break the little one’s trance. 

“Yeah well, fuck the people at school. All of them. Someone should have stuck up for you,” Chanyeol spoke quietly but the anger in his voice was hard to miss. Baekhyun’s head had shot towards Chanyeol at the sound of the curse word, teasing smile on his lips like he wanted to giggle at the sound of a bad word. 

Chanyeol shrugged his jacket off and thrust it into Baekhyun’s arms, “Put this on.” Baekhyun stared at him quizzically. “It’s cold,” Chanyeol added after a moment of silence. 

They continued walking in silence, Chanyeol’s jacket now wrapped around Baekhyun’s small frame, the little one breathing in Chanyeol’s scent and humming happily. They were nearing Chanyeol’s building but neither wanted the night to come to an end. There was something in the back of Chanyeol’s mind that he could’t dismiss for any longer, “Baekhyun?” he spoke as the two of them stopped in front of Chanyeol’s building. 

“Yes?” Baekhyun replied, hoping that he wouldn’t ask for his jacket back yet. 

“What was on the last card?” Time seemed to freeze for a split second while Baekhyun tried to come up with an answer, the truth being that he couldn’t find the card once it had fallen amongst the others. 

“I… can’t tell you,” 

Chanyeol scoffed, “Stop playing around and just tell me, runt.” Baekhyun smiled at the nickname, the tension from the heavy conversation earlier disappeared with it. 

“I can’t tell you Chanyeol, you refused to see it at the time so I can’t tell you now,” the tease in Baekhyun’s voice had returned and so had his habit of invading personal space, taking a step forward with every word he said until he was looking up at Chanyeol through his fringe.

Unwilling to argue any further, Chanyeol simply turned and started up the stairs for his building. 

“Wait! Chanyeol!” Chanyeol turned briefly, allowing him to continue with his attention. 

“I haven’t give you a goodnight kiss yet!” Baekhyun said it so confidently and laughed so loudly afterwards that Chanyeol almost couldn’t believe he had saw the vulnerable side of him earlier. Rolling his eyes and starting into a jog, Chanyeol made it to the top of the steps. He turned to blow a kiss and wink at a reddening Baekhyun before entering his building. 

Baekhyun quickly ran the rest of the way home as soon as Chanyeol was out of sight, the fear that someone was waiting to hurt him had never left. He hung the jacket as soon as he was home, Jongin was staring at it from his place on his bed for a good two minutes, trying to figure out where he had seen it before. 

“New jacket?” 

“Yeah,” Baekhyun replied with a small smile as his friend’s concentration returned to the show playing on his laptop. 

Baekhyun ran along to the shower; the success of the first show rehearsal, the relief of confiding his past in someone, the smell of said persons jacket, the pout of his lips as he blew a sarcastic kiss. The pout of his lips as he blew a kiss - Baekhyun’s hands slowly moved over his body as he lathered soap on himself, hesitantly moving downwards and between his legs with a certain pout in mind.

\---

Jongdae rummaged through Chanyeol’s closet, pulling out different clothing which were all coloured black, deep purple or grey, and making a mess in the process. “None of these pieces will do Chanyeol, he’s going to think you’re dressed for a funeral” Jongdae tutted. 

“Kyungsoo won’t care what I wear, it’s our fourth date anyway if he didn’t like me then he would have said by now” Chanyeol rolled his eyes and continued typing away on his phone. 

“At least try to make an effort with how you look for him,” Jongdae flopped down on the bed next to him after throwing a white t-shirt and blue ripped jeans on Chanyeol, “Wear those and he’ll be asking you to be his official boyfriend in no time.” 

Chanyeol tried hard to suppress his smirk, “Where did you even find these anyway? I haven’t seen this t-shirt in years” he held the t-shirt above him, critiquing the abstract design on the front. 

“It was folded up in a box labelled ‘decent clothing’” Jongdae snorted and dodged the punch Chanyeol tried to land on his arm. 

“He’s going to think I’m a hippy,” Chanyeol was still smiling, regardless of the doubt in his voice. 

“Nah, it makes you look artistic or something. Trust me.” Jongdae replied before forcing Chanyeol up and into the bathroom to change for his date. 

Chanyeol decided that he trusted Jongdae too much, sat in the overcrowded bar, tugging at his t-shirt which was a size too small considering he had bought it before he started working out and bulking up. The ripped jeans looked pretty good though, he admitted that much to himself, his summer tan still hadn’t faded and the October weather made his revealing outfit almost bearable. He looked around, sipping on his beer and searching for his tiny date when someone had popped up right next to him (almost literally to the point where Chanyeol had thought he had magically appeared). 

“Hi Chanyeol!” Chanyeol recognised the mop of black hair in the corner of his eye before he recognised the annoying voice and cursed under his breath. 

“Hello runt, I’m actually waiting for someone so you can’t stick around,” Chanyeol gave him a stiff smile before looking towards the door again. 

Baekhyun giggled at the nickname, Chanyeol had a feeling that he didn’t entirely know what it meant. 

“Oh, is it a date?” Baekhyun’s smile didn’t falter, the alcohol in his blood probably being the reason for his good mood. 

“Yes, it is actually.” Chanyeol thought keeping his answers short would give the message that the other boy needed to leave.

“Oh! Oh! A date with the love of your life?” Baekhyun was far too excited, giggling childishly behind his hand. 

Chanyeol didn’t reply, concentrating his gaze on the front door and hoping that it would bring Kyungsoo sooner. He felt a hand on his shoulder, the grip wasn’t strong but he could feel Baekhyun trying to hold himself up, “Chanyeol, I forgot to tell you something during our meeting.” Baekhyun was whispering straight into his ear, the hot breath fanning over his neck made Chanyeol squirm and move away despite liking the sensation. 

“What is it?” Chanyeol turned to look at him.

“There are things you need to do, if you want your destinies to come to you,” Baekhyun said this very seriously and Chanyeol found himself drawn to him. 

“What kind of things?” Chanyeol was speaking almost as quietly as Baekhyun, their serious conversation seemed to block out the loud bustle of the bar around them and soon Chanyeol forgot that he was waiting for someone. 

Baekhyun brought his face closer, “You need to surround yourself with the right people, people who will bring the elements to your side.” Chanyeol gave him a heavy stare, a million things rushed through his mind before he stopped and realised that this was the first time he had properly looked Baekhyun in the face and taken him seriously. The black hair that almost covered his droopy eyes, the droopy eyes that seemed to hold a galaxy, the down turn of his pink lips, and the pink lips that glistened with saliva. 

Pretty. He was pretty. 

“Am I interrupting something?” Kyungsoo’s voice came from beside them and Chanyeol seemed to be teleported back into the bar despite the fact he never left. 

Chanyeol whipped his head around, eyes growing wide at the sight of his date, “No! You’re not interrupting! Actually, this little runt is interrupting us!” The nickname directed at Baekhyun didn’t seem as nice anymore. 

Baekhyun let his hand slip from Chanyeol’s shoulder as he turned to give a smile to Kyungsoo, “Sorry, I was just asking Chanyeol if he knew where my friends are.” 

“And why would Chanyeol know where your friends are? You look young, you must be a freshman.” Baekhyun’s mouth opened but no answer left his lips, the unexpected response leaving him speechless and slightly embarrassed. 

“He’s friends with Jongdae’s little brother,” Chanyeol replied for him and Baekhyun gave him an appreciative smile. “Sehun’s over there,” Chanyeol pointed to a booth where Sehun was sat with a few other people playing some sort of drinking game. 

“Right. Thanks Chanyeol.” Baekhyun gave a nod towards Kyungsoo before walking back over to his friends, strangely a lot less drunk than he first appeared. 

Kyungsoo sat on the bar stool next to Chanyeol and ordered himself a cocktail, which Chanyeol paid for. “He’s cute. He’s like a little brother, right? I knew he was a freshman, you can see it in his hopeful eyes,” Kyungsoo giggled and shook his head. 

“A little brother?” Chanyeol paused, “Yeah sure. Hopeful for what though?” 

Kyungsoo shrugged and ordered a drink, “University I guess, don’t you remember being a freshman and thinking it would be the start of the greatest years of your life?” Kyungsoo gave him a smile and Chanyeol’s face softened instantly. 

“Yeah. I was so stupid back then,” Kyungsoo let out a bark of laughter and Chanyeol laughed along with him. Baekhyun left not too long after, giving the basic excuse that he had class in the morning to Sehun before taking his leave. It was a Saturday night, there were no classes on Sunday, but Sehun gave him the space he needed and sent him off with a kiss on the cheek and some cash for a taxi. 

Chanyeol shouldn’t have noticed him leaving, but he did. 

 

\--- 

Baekhyun waited outside for his uber, the soft wind blew through his hair and seemed to take his thoughts with it. Baekhyun couldn’t remember the last time his mind was free of thoughts, it was a nice feeling. It could have been made better if his heart didn’t sting the way it did right now. Baekhyun had learned to stop having crushes as he grew up, he realised that most boys don’t like other boys -  or maybe they just didn’t like him. Either way his feelings had never been reciprocated and thus he learned to stop having feelings altogether. Chanyeol was a strange sensation for him, he knew what he wanted and what he liked but he was afraid to give in. Chanyeol most definitely likes boys, proven to him by the date he just witnessed, but Chanyeol didn’t like him. It was a feeling Baekhyun had become accustomed to and to protect himself he had to push his feelings for the taller boy away. 

Right as his impatience was starting to kick in, Baekhyun’s phone lit up with a message from his uber driver. His driver had cancelled. Too fed up to care, Baekhyun started his way walking home. It was nice in a way, walking through empty streets at night was peaceful and he might have enjoyed it if not for the strange feeling he couldn’t seem to shake. 

Almost as if on cue, Baekhyun turned the corner and bumped straight into a large group of boys, probably no older than he was but they were a lot taller. His heart skipped a beat before it started to pound, recognising one of the faces as someone who regularly taunted him in high school. His head was spinning, stumbling backwards while spilling barely decipherable apologies. 

“Who do we have here? Aren’t you Byun Baekhyun? Didn’t we go to school together?” The old classmate stepped forward, snickering at Baekhyun’s desperate attempt to hide his face with his hair. 

“This is the fag I went to high school with,” the group of boys rung out in laughter. “Still pretty as ever, Baekhyun.” The boy took another step forward and Baekhyun felt his stomach churn, the contents of his stomach threatening to spill. His mind clouded with memories of his high school bullies and the bruises he encountered after one of their ‘meetings’. 

Baekhyun spun on his heel and ran, explicit memories running through his mind spurred him to run faster. His lungs burned and his feet hurt every time they smacked the floor. He ran through and around different streets and corners, hoping his feet would take him somewhere safe.  His face became wet with tears and sweat dampening his fringe, he didn’t stop until the sounds of footsteps had faded behind him and his thighs felt like they would give out from beneath him at any moment. 

Later that evening when Chanyeol’s date had ended with a hug and a promise to meet again, he started his way home. Kyungsoo hadn’t walked him home, he hadn’t even offered, and Chanyeol found himself missing a certain short boy with hopeful eyes and a mop of black hair. 

As the first signs of a storm stirred the night sky, Chanyeol decided to turn left on his route home and walk the shortcut through the park. Truth be told Chanyeol had never liked this particular park at night, knowing that gangs and groups of teenagers went there to waste away their evenings and bother anyone they saw. It had started to rain and Chanyeol figured that getting home as dry as possible was worth the hassle of dealing with hormonal teenage brats. 

He walked fairly quickly, not liking how the rain drops soaked through his tiny shirt. He had a simple jacket that he was holding above his head as a makeshift umbrella. He notices the figure of a boy sitting on a bench with his head hung low, staring at a black phone screen. Chanyeol hesitates, should he decide to help the boy then it would probably take him twice as long to get home and he really wasn’t dressed for the weather, but knowing that he left someone out in the middle of a storm would result in guilt taking over his life. Chanyeol damned his own conscience under his breath as he jogged up to the bench and spoke loudly over the rain. 

\---

“Hey are you alright? The storm’s only getting worse, you should get home.” 

The boy on the bench lifted his head to the familiar voice and Chanyeol stared back down at Baekhyun’s puffy red eyes and running nose. Without a second thought he pulled the small boy up and onto his feet, wrapped him in his jacket and held onto his hand as they jogged through the park and straight up to Chanyeol’s building. Neither of them spoke or stopped until they were in the warmth of Chanyeol’s dorm room. 

Chanyeol silently made tea using the small kettle in his room. Baekhyun watched from the edge of the bed where he was sat while Chanyeol changed out of his wet clothes and into dry ones, shamelessly turning his back to Baekhyun and stripping his underwear along with everything else before dressing in sweatpants and a sweatshirt. Baekhyun looked away, internally groaning at the unreserved action. 

Chanyeol held out a set of dry clothing similar to the one he was wearing in front of Baekhyun’s face, “I hope you don’t mind wearing my underwear - they’re clean I swear.” 

Baekhyun blushed but took the set anyway, he stood up and Chanyeol quickly turned his back to give the smaller some privacy. Baekhyun’s heart pounded, he didn’t have a problem with changing, Chanyeol’s back was turned and he trusted that he wouldn’t look. Baekhyun had never undressed in front of someone who wasn’t his mum or dad before, let alone in front of someone he actually liked. 

He peeled the wet shirt and jeans from his cold skin and dropped them audibly on the ground. Chanyeol gulped at the sound and shut his eyes tightly, hands in fists at his side. Baekhyun stripped off his underwear next and stood for a moment, staring at Chanyeol’s turned back, allowing his courage to build and listening to his slowing heart rate. 

“Are you done?” Chanyeol almost half turned to look at Baekhyun. 

“No!” Baekhyun's heart began pounding heavily immediately, feeling like he was almost going into cardiac arrest he pulled the clothes on quickly, stumbling back onto the bed in the process. 

Chanyeol turned around without warning, staring at a fully clothed, red faced Baekhyun splayed across his bed.

“I thought you fell and hurt yourself,” Chanyeol’s voice was low, his eyes lingered on the way his clothes drowned Baekhyun making him look innocent, almost vulnerable. Baekhyun felt his throat close up as he bent down to pick up his wet clothes. “I’ll wash your clothes and dry them, then you can go home tomorrow morning.” 

“Tomorrow? Why tomorrow?” Baekhyun’s voice was panicked, what could Chanyeol want with him until morning if he had bothered him enough already. 

“I don’t - You don’t want to go home in this rain,” Chanyeol was quick to correct himself but Baekhyun understood regardless, he smiled to himself and turned his head to nuzzle the duvet. “My roommate’s not back until tomorrow night,” he added, confirming Baekhyun’s thought that they most likely wouldn’t share a bed. 

“Okay, I’ll take Jongdae’s bed,” Baekhyun’s voice was raspy from the harsh weather and Chanyeol remembered the task of making tea, he boiled the  kettle and started putting tea bags in mugs. “Is green tea okay for you?”

“That’s fine,” Baekhyun shuffled across the room to the other bed and immediately climbed under the covers, seeking any type of warmth that could replace the hollow feeling he had after the night’s event. He hoped Chanyeol wouldn’t ask what he was doing sitting in the pouring rain, he didn’t want to talk about it. Part of him wanted Chanyeol to not care enough and to forget the whole thing happened, the better part of him hoped that he would care. Baekhyun knew he and Chanyeol weren’t compatible, he researched the internet and consulted his books after meeting the taller boy, hoping that there was an interpretation or a constellation out there that would put the two together. Hours spent looking through characteristics for their respective signs, Chanyeol was a monkey and Baekhyun was a puppy; their traits too similar and yet too different to be a good match. There could never be hope for them. He accepted it, he wasn’t happy about it but the stars knew best in Baekhyun’s book. They helped him through his hardest times when he was younger and he trusted them to lead him to his happiness in the future. 

Pulled out of his thoughts by the mug held out in front of his, Baekhyun took it gratefully and sipped. It was burning down his throat and he hoped it would burn away the lump beginning to form there. 

They sat in a comfortable silence, Chanyeol staring intently at Baekhyun like it would make the smaller start explaining. Baekhyun stared down at his cup of hot tea, enjoying the warmth it brought to his fingers and trying his best to ignore Chanyeol’s gaze. 

To his relief, Chanyeol didn’t mention anything. He took the wet clothes down to the communal kitchen to be washed and then dried in one cycle so that they’d be done by morning. As he stumbled back into the dorm room he found Baekhyun buried under Jongdae’s comforter, he wasn’t moving but Chanyeol knew he wasn’t asleep. He turned the lights off anyway and climbed into his own bed. 

The glow in the dark stickers gleamed above him, Chanyeol closed his eyes and thought about the universe, how big it was and how insignificant everything else was in comparison. He should be happy. Baekhyun should be happy. Everything else is insignificant if they can’t find happiness on such a small planet in a universe more than a million times bigger. Chanyeol wasn’t happy though, he didn’t understand it completely. He had a potential relationship blooming, friends and family that supported him, he was beginning to work back over his thesis for a second shot at his dream job. And yet, there was a void inside of him desperate to be filled, he didn’t know how to fill it or what could save him but he knew that lately every time he looked at Baekhyun the void would grow slightly bigger and it would hurt a little bit more. He shook his head to rid himself of the thoughts and his brain wandered off towards the thought of his favourite star, Sirius. Sirius was nicknamed the dog star, it was the brightest star in the night sky and Chanyeol liked to motivate himself to be just like him; to stand out from everyone else and be the best. He tried to focus on Sirius - but he couldn’t ignore Sirius B, the puppy. Chanyeol believed that the sky looked most beautiful when they were together, shining next to one another. The idea fills his head until he feels like it’s pressing against his skull wanting to burst out. 

The sound of movement on the bed next to him bursts his thoughts. Baekhyun. What had happened to Baekhyun. 

He turned onto his side and squinted in the darkness, seeing the little one’s eyes wide open and staring at the ceiling as he just was. 

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol spoke quietly, it was a Saturday night and not many people were at the dorms but he still felt the urge to speak quietly. Baekhyun shut his eyes tightly after hearing his name and faked exaggerated snores. 

“Baekhyun I know you’re awake,” Chanyeol sighed and Baekhyun peeked out of one eye at the taller. 

“Heh, I’m sorry.” 

“Don’t be,” Chanyeol was a patient man when it mattered, and right now it did. 

“Baekhyun, what happened tonight?” 

“I was on my way home, my taxi cancelled, and I got lost walking home.” Baekhyun said it so surely that Chanyeol almost believed him, if not for the slight waver in his voice towards the end. 

“Baekhyun,” Chanyeol whispered, his voice pleading “Tell me what really happened. Please.” 

Baekhyun took a shaky breath and turned to face Chanyeol, “I was almost jumped. By some stupid boys I used to know in high school. I ran away, I kept running until I didn’t know where I was.” 

Chanyeol’s world crashed when he registered what had actually happened to him, his heart pained and his stomach churned at the thought of the little one being hurt. 

“I shouldn’t have let you go home alone,” Chanyeols hurt was turning to anger.

“Don’t be ridiculous Chanyeol, you were on a date. You couldn’t leave just for me,” The sincerity in Baekhyun’s voice angered Chanyeol further. 

“And why not? Why can’t I leave for you?” His voice was raised now, not enough to be shouting but a harsh contrast to the softness that was prior. 

Baekhyun flinched at the change in volume and nuzzled further into the duvet, “We’re not friends. I’ve bothered you enough tonight already. I hope you enjoyed your date,” Baekhyun spoke in short sentences, separated by a split second of thinking on what to say next. 

The rain was pounding against the window, the sound surrounding and filling the room. It was calming, the sound was poetic in the strangest and most comforting of ways. Baekhyun wanted to stay in this moment, confiding in Chanyeol and speaking without regret. The feeling of trusting someone was new to Baekhyun, it was a feeling he wanted to cling to. 

“Who says we’re not friends?” Chanyeol’s voice had lowered once again and Baekhyun allowed his whole face to be seen, comforter pulled around his neck. “We can be friends,” he adds afterwards, confirming to himself and Baekhyun that he wanted this. “I knew you didn’t like walking home alone, I knew the reason why too. And I let you leave alone. I shouldn’t have and I’m sorry,” Chanyeol sounded adamant in what he was saying, like he was forcing out every word but every word was still genuine. 

Baekhyun had to hide his face again to hide the fat tears coming down his face, crying straight into the comforter. He didn’t understand why exactly he was crying, possibly the feeling of having a friend come to him for the first time in his life. He had friends in the past, he had Jongin and Sehun, but they were all friends that he had to push himself to be apart of. He knew Jongin and Sehun cared about him and he was happy they were his friends, but it couldn’t compare to the feeling of someone wanting him for once. 

“Stop crying stupid, at least you weren’t hurt,” Chanyeol’s voice was soft, teasing enough to lift the mood slightly. 

Baekhyun blubbered from underneath the duvet and Chanyeol laughed at the incoherent words. 

“I can’t understand you,” Chanyeol spoke through a smile. 

Baekhyun lifted his head from under the comforter, face red and wet. 

“I said, I’m happy that you’re my friend.” Looking towards Chanyeol through wet eyelashes, he gave a solemn smile and yawned. 

The tugging in Chanyeol’s heart turned into ripping and he couldn’t handle looking at the smaller one any longer. Turning towards the ceiling with a sigh, he decided it was time to sleep. 

“Goodnight, Baekhyun.” He smiled and closed his eyes as puppy whimpers and soft snores filled the room. 

\--- 

Chanyeol woke up after Baekhyun had left. His borrowed clothes in a neat pile, apart from the underwear, and the duvet folded neatly underneath. He figured Baekhyun got fed up of waiting for him to wake considering it was already 12pm. Chanyeol managed to brush his teeth, take a shower and finish 3 sets of homework before Jongdae waltzed in at 5pm. 

“How was your weekend?” Chanyeol asked half heartedly. 

“It was awful,” Jongdae replied instantly and Chanyeol snorted at the unusual pessimism. “My mum sent these for us too. He dropped the tubs full of various meals and side dishes on Chanyeol’s desk, he hadn’t eaten since he woke up and his stomach growled at the smell. 

“Your mum’s a god send,” Chanyeol groaned and opened the first tub. “Do you know any place that’s hiring Jongdae?” He spoke through a mouth full of food and Jongdae’s face twisted in disgust. 

“I don’t think so, ugh chew with your mouth closed,” Jongdae turned around and began unpacking his overnight bag. 

Chanyeol was not a very wealthy person. His parents paid for his education and sent him what they could to cover expenses but he had very little money to buy things he wanted, and there were quite a few things that he wanted. The new Celestron NexStar telescope had been released a few days prior and suddenly, things didn’t seem so clear from Chanyeol’s current telescope. 

Chanyeol opened his bank app on his phone and stared disappointedly at the 34,000 won which graced his balance. Chanyeol needed a job. 

Applying for jobs was an easy enough task, Chanyeol was desperate so there was nothing he wouldn’t do. It was slightly more difficult with Jongdae sitting in his ear and asking ‘Do you REALLY was to do that for only 7,000 won an hour?’ at every job ad Chanyeol clicked on. 

“Jongdae shut up. I need the telescope, I need a job. I’m desperate.” Chanyeol huffed and continued scrolling. 

“Oh! Why didn’t you say you were desperate? There’s a job offer at the school’s theatre.” Jongdae smiled innocently and the cramp in Chanyeol’s thumb that came from the hours of scrolling through job opportunities seemed to hurt a lot more. 

Chanyeol took a deep breath, “How much does it pay? And what do I have to do?” he asked calmly, as calmly as his thumb cramp pain would allow him. 

“It’s lighting staff or something, you have to pull the curtains and control the lights during the show. It’s easy enough and it pays 12,000 won an hour.” Jongdae still had the innocent smile on his face and Chanyeol wanted to slap it off. 

Chanyeol applied, and three days later he was employed. 

\---

Working at the theatre wasn’t so bad. Chanyeol just had to follow the script of rehearsals except his included specific instructions such as ‘pull curtain’ or ‘low lights only’. The only thing that could be considered a downside was having to interact with Baekhyun almost every evening, who always made a point to go and ask Chanyeol about his life with a smile on his face and a walk which made his hair bounce with every step. 

“Hi Chanyeol!” Baekhyun skipped over, it was one of the common evenings where Baekhyun had arrived a good 30 minutes before everyone else. Chanyeol had to be there early, something he was beginning to hate. 

“Hello runt.” Chanyeol answered with a scoff. 

“Chanyeol, I noticed something recently,” Baekhyun had stepped unnervingly close to Chanyeol, but Chanyeol was used to it  at this point. 

“What is it?” Chanyeol looked up from his phone and held eye contact with the tiny man. 

“All of my predictions are coming true!” Baekhyun’s eyes grew bigger and Chanyeol looked away. “The tarot readings! First I said you’d find love after pain and, well that’s happening. And then I said you’d get a job which also happened! Seems like astrology really is better than astronomy.” Baekhyun sighed in content. 

“Astrology is not better than astronomy, we want to know the fate of the universe on a non-fictional level. Which already makes it better than whatever you do because our version. Isn’t. Fake.” Chanyeol emphasised the k on the end of his sentence and turned back to his phone with a satisfactory grin. 

Baekhyun looked amused rather than offended which irked Chanyeol. 

“Why are you looking at me like that?” Chanyeol asked, having enough of the smirk on the little man’s face. 

“It’s just.. It seems like you really have brought the right elements onto your side,” Baekhyun took a deep sigh and gave a sad smile. 

The theatre door swung open and Sehun came waltzing, sunglasses on in rainy weather and blonde hair quiffed back in all its glory. Baekhyun walked to hug his friend and the pressure around Chanyeol’s heart let up slightly. Just slightly. 

\---

Anyone and everyone who knows Baekhyun would agree that he was a bright boy. He was strangely optimistic, a positive attitude for every situation, even during the times he was bullied for being gay in high school. He would laugh along and agree that yes he was a fairy, just in a different way than he knew those horrible boys meant. 

Baekhyun rarely showed his sadness, so Sehun had every reason to be worried when his little friend showed up on his doorstep with the same sad smile he was sporting since yesterday evening. 

But Sehun knew better than to directly ask Baekhyun for answers, the smaller would simply shrug it off with an ‘I’m fine’ and a depressingly funny story of how he was once beaten up at a high school party for looking at a boy a certain way. Sehun never found them funny but he would smile at Baekhyun’s exaggerated laugh anyway. 

He ushered Baekhyun into his large apartment, pushed him into the couch and pulled a blanket around him. They spoke about nothing in particular for a good 30 minutes, small comments made about the show playing on TV or how their parents are asking about the other until Sehun lets the silence swallow them for awhile, save for the idol show playing on TV quietly. 

“Who is that boy?” Sehun spoke calmly, it was soothing and dangerous for Baekhyun. A comfortable conversation could allow him to mindlessly say anything on his mind. 

“The one on TV?” Baekhyun answered tiredly.

“No, the one from the theatre. I always see you two talking.” Sehun was careful with his words, always was around Baekhyun. 

“Ah, his name is Chanyeol. He’s a water element so we aren’t compatible.” Sehun smiled at the answer to a question he never asked. 

“Sometimes you think too deep about the elements Baekhyunee. Chanyeol seems nice,” Sehun smiled and pulled his friend closer into a cuddle. 

“I think he’s nice too, I feel good around him. My heart feels lifted.” Baekhyun paused for a while, “He already found a boy to complete his fate,” he adds. 

Sehun buries his nose in Baekhyun’s hair and speaks “Fates can change.” 

Baekhyun hums half-heartedly knowing that fates don’t change for anyone.

\---

The next time Baekhyun saw Chanyeol, he was at a breakfast restaurant with Kyungsoo. 

Sehun and Jongin had taken Baekhyun out before the theatre show next week and Chanyeol walked in not too long after. Baekhyun understood that he and Chanyeol were friends, he didn’t understand that his friend was supposed to be a date. 

“Chanyeol! Over here!” Baekhyun shouted loudly across the restaurant while waving his entire arm, causing him to hide his face while Sehun laughed. 

Chanyeol walked over to them, they were friends now and he wouldn’t ignore a friend. 

“You should join us with your new friend! Do you remember me Kyungsoo? We met at the bar,” Baekhyun spoke with his whole face, expression and emotion taking over his being. 

Chanyeol thought it was cute. 

Kyungsoo gave Chanyeol a look, disinterest clear in his features. It was obvious that he wanted Chanyeol to reject the offer. 

“Sure, it’ll be fun,” Chanyeol never looked away from Baekhyun as he shuffled into the booth next to him and had Kyungsoo shuffle in across from him next to Jongin. 

They ordered shortly afterwards and fell into a casual conversation about the show that would be happening the following week. Jongin and Sehun spoke about their dance performances and Baekhyun rambled about his part in the musical. 

“I’m still working on my costume, it’s difficult to come up with something appropriate for a mamma mia-robocop crossover.” 

Baekhyun was interrupted as he gave a polite thank you to the waiter handing him his food. 

He took a bite of his pancake stack and made exaggerated noises expressing how good it tasted, Chanyeol rolled his eyes. He hadn’t noticed Kyungsoo’s patience wearing thin from across the table, it was hard to when Baekhyun was tugging his attention by his heart strings. 

“Oh and I still have your underwear Chanyeol! You should come over and pick them up! Unless you want me to drop them off-“ Baekhyun didn’t take a breath between his bites and his constant blabbering causing him to choke and splutter rather unattractively. 

“Why is your underwear at his house Chanyeol?” Kyungsoo spoke up when the sudden choking had gave him a chance. 

“Hm?” Chanyeol looked up from where he was patting Baekhyun’s back and handing him a glass of water, eyes coming into contact with Kyungsoo’s fuming face and startling “Oh. It’s not what you think! He borrowed a pair after staying at my place” Chanyeol sounded panicked, realising too late that his explanation didn’t make the situation sound any better. 

This was Kyungsoo’s cue to leave. Food barely touched and a morning wasted, he stood up and shuffled back out of the booth and turning to Chanyeol. 

“Call me so we can talk about it properly. But I’m just done. Right now anyway. Bye Chanyeol.” It was simple and surprisingly sincere. There was no real annoyance to his tone, mainly confusion. Chanyeol could live with that. 

“I just wanted to clean them before giving them back,” Baekhyun explained with a hoarse voice. 

Chanyeol finished his breakfast in silence, glancing at the door from time to time and listening to Baekhyun talk his right ear off. 

As the oldest, Chanyeol settled the bill and made sure  Jongin and Sehun had a safe way home. He wanted to walk home, he wanted to be alone but something was pressing him to ask his tiny friend to accompany him and so he did. 

The walk was comfortable, they spoke absentmindedly about the weather and deadlines, until Baekhyun stopped talking completely. 

“What are you thinking about, runt? It feels weird when you’re so silent,” Chanyeol teased him with a half smile but Baekhyun’s eyes remained trained on the path in front of him. 

“I’m sorry I ruined your one true love,” Baekhyun mumbled, barely moving his lips. 

“What?” Chanyeol scoffed. It wasn’t Baekhyun’s fault. Even if it was, he wouldn’t let anyone blame himself.  

“With Kyungsoo, I just..” Baekhyun couldn’t find the right words to explain how he felt. He knew what he was doing when he mentioned the underwear but it didn’t feel as great as he expected when Kyungsoo had left. 

Chanyeol stopped himself then stopped Baekhyun by grabbing his shoulders and turning him so they faced each other, “It wasn’t your fault.” Chanyeol took a deep sigh and shook his head free from thoughts. He was doing this a lot lately, especially when he was with Baekhyun. 

Baekhyun sighed but accepted it anyway. He couldn’t help his heart speeding up when he realised that Chanyeol was now single. It’s not like he’d ever ask him out anyway, he was a coward with no experience. Baekhyun was a virgin at 19 years old. He had never met other boys who liked boys until he moved to Seoul for university but somehow, even while surrounded by horny gay students, he had never entertained the possibility of having sex. He was sexually attracted to people, like Chanyeol, without a doubt. However the idea of sharing his body with strangers is not one he could get used to, Baekhyun wasn’t old fashioned or a hopeless romantic but he definitely wanted his first time and every time after that to be special. 

They turned into a street of shops, cute cafes and independent bookstores filling up the walls. Chanyeol shivered as the wind whipped around him and he suggested a coffee to warm them up. 

“You just had coffee with your breakfast,” Baekhyun replied with a scrunched nose but he pulled him towards one of the coffee shops anyway. 

Chanyeol ordered for them both coffee and a couple of small pastries to share and then went to join Baekhyun at the table he had chosen. 

Baekhyun gave him a soft stare when he sat down, eyes scrunching into a smile and Chanyeol couldn’t help but reciprocate it. 

“This is like second breakfast,” Baekhyun gawked at the food that was set down in front of them by the server “I won’t fit into my costume for the play,” Baekhyun pouted and the familiar game of tug of war started in Chanyeol’s heart again. 

“Stop being ridiculous Baekhyun,” Chanyeol rolled his eyes but hoped it would encourage the boy to eat. 

Baekhyun only started on the pastries after Chanyeol and he counted that as success. 

“Chanyeol?” Baekhyun spoke up after a moment of silence and Chanyeol hummed in response. “Is this- are we on a date?” 

Chanyeol choked on the croissant he currently had in his mouth, it took him a lot of coughing and coffee to be able to breathe normally again. He looked up to find Baekhyun staring at him with a genuinely unsure face and he almost couldn’t find the words to respond. 

“I just stopped seeing Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol answered but he knew that didn’t matter much to him, they were never an official item and he didn’t feel the same tug as he did with Baekhyun. He was scared of going into it with Baekhyun, he didn’t understand his feelings, he didn’t even know what the tugging meant completely. Right now, he only understood the contentment of being around the little one. 

“Kyungsoo was your ‘one’,” Baekhyun replied with a sad smile. 

“You don’t know that.” 

“You said it yourself,” Baekhyun sounded defensive now, he didn’t like feeling like Chanyeol was lying to him and himself. 

“I didn’t know what I was talking about. You said I’d meet my ‘one’ and I took that as the first guy I met. I should’ve been looking for the right guy.” Chanyeol’s voice was serious, on the verge of desperate. 

“You’re both water elements, Chanyeol. It makes sense.” Baekhyun sounded panicked, feeling like he had ruined someone else’s destiny. 

“I don’t even know what that means, runt.” Chanyeol rolled his eyes and tried to lower the tension around them. 

“It means you’d go really well together,” Baekhyun’s voice cracked. 

“I think I’d be better than ‘really well’ with someone else,” Chanyeol was looking straight into his eyes now and Baekhyun could see how much he hated the explicit emotions almost being shown, but the need to reassure Baekhyun was greater. 

“Someone else like me?” 

Chanyeol didn’t answer. He muttered something about astrology being stupid and ‘this is why astronomy is better.’ Baekhyun’s mouth dropped open in offence while he simply rolled his eyes, took a sip of his coffee and whined at Baekhyun to finish the pastries that were expensive. 

—-

The same night Chanyeol called Kyungsoo. He knew what he did that morning wasn’t his best character moment but he wanted to clear everything up before parting for good. The relationship (if you could even call it that) was nothing more than a few dates between people who enjoyed each other’s company, but his mother had raised him as a gentleman and Chanyeol wasn’t at ease with how things were left. 

After endless ringing, there was a deep hello on the other end. 

“Hi Kyungsoo, it’s Chanyeol,” He made his voice sound as calm as possible despite the nerves building in his throat. He was never good with confrontations. 

“I know I have caller ID,” Kyungsoo sounded bored, but not angry so that was a good sign. 

Chanyeol forced a laugh and prepared himself for explanation by running through his mental script once more in his head. 

“Kyungsoo I just wanted to say sorry for this morning. I should have paid you more attention, I don’t know what came over me.” Chanyeol sounded sincere because, well,  he was so the last thing he was expecting was a burst of laughter to ring from the speaker. “Why are you laughing?” Chanyeol sounded annoyed and Kyungsoo calmed himself down. 

“I’m surprised you actually called to explain. I saw it coming you know, I can’t be mad.” Kyungsoo spoke through little giggles and Chanyeol’s heart felt free while his head spun in confusion. 

“What do you mean?” 

“The entire night after we ran into Baekhyun, all you could talk about was your first encounter together and how annoying he was but it was obvious you didn’t actually feel that way,” Kyungsoo spoke softly and Chanyeol felt sick. 

“What are you saying?” Chanyeol really felt like he would faint at this point, it was a good thing he was already laying down otherwise his knees would have given in. Thinking back to that night in the bar, he noticed that Kyungsoo didn’t say much but he put that down to being a quiet person in general, he was most likely annoyed at the lack of attention he’s been showing since the beginning. 

“Don’t make me tell you what you already know, Chanyeol. The point is, there’s no hard feelings between us. I’d like to stay friends,” Kyungsoo had never sounded confident while speaking to Chanyeol. 

Chanyeol could no longer comprehend what was going through his mind so he replied with a “Yeah of course,” before bidding him goodnight and rolling over to hold his stomach. 

Jongdae was sat across from the room, watching with a blank face before his mouth turned into an ‘O’ and realisation painted his face. 

“You and Byun, eh? Never thought you’d go for the younger ones but you do like them little,” Jongdae cackled and Chanyeol groaned. 

“It’s not like that Jongdae, I don’t know what he’s talking about. It’s not - it’s just not true,” Chanyeol spoke with his face smushed into his pillow and his eyes screwed shut, hands never leaving the hold on his stomach as if they could stop the butterflies going wild in his gut. 

“I’m sorry to say my friend but you’re most definitely ‘in like’ with Baekhyun,” Jongdae’s mouth turned slightly upwards. “I’ve actually never seen it this bad.” 

That was it, the moment Chanyeol passed out. The stars had moved that night, as they do every night. But this particular night was different, Sirius had moved slightly quicker than the other stars around him and Chanyeol felt it as he woke up at 2am for a glass of water. He stared at his oldest friend through his telescope before recording the move on his chart, he couldn’t help but feel like it meant something. Something beyond a scientific explanation. He didn’t want to deal with this, he didn’t know how, so he simply tucked himself back into bed and decided to ignore the whole ordeal. 

He decided to avoid Baekhyun from that day, running out of the theatre right after show rehearsals or walking a different way if he saw the little one coming. He didn’t think it was suspicious, he didn’t even notice he was doing it until he caught a glimpse of his face one day before he was about to exit the door of the theatre. Baekhyun's eyebrows curling up and his nose blushing red as if he could cry at any moment. But Chanyeol didn’t like confrontation, and so he left without looking back again. 

—-

It was the night of the show. The performances were over, Jongdae attended to support his baby brother with a bouquet of flowers for the success of the night. Chanyeol had done well in his position of light and curtain crew but Baekhyun was the star of the show. His voice carried all of the songs, prancing around in his hawaiian shirt and pants that had been sewn together to look like a police uniform. It was the strangest collaboration Chanyeol had ever seen but Baekhyun made it wonderful. He couldn’t stop staring at him, Baekhyun felt his gaze whenever he was waiting backstage for his scenes to come around, it was making him hot and nervous but he didn’t look over once. Not until he had to change for the final number, stripping off to his underwear and looking Chanyeol in the eye. Chanyeol felt his heart rate increase, he hoped his looks towards Baekhyun were going unnoticed. He missed him, they hadn’t spoken in a week and he thought it was beginning to take a toll on his mind and body. Baekhyun’s body was slim, his hips and thighs slightly wider than average and the golden tint to his skin made Chanyeol’s mouth dry up. It didn’t help that everyone else had their eyes on him too, Chanyeol wanted to growl at everyone to look away but he didn’t want to miss one second of the personal show Baekhyun was putting on for him. He didn’t break eye contact until he was fully dressed again and ready to run back on stage for the final scene. Chanyeol felt a little less sane by the end of it. 

They ended up in a pub near campus, Chanyeol, Baekhyun, Jongdae, Sehun and Jongin. Each of them sharing hearty pub food and drinking beer like it was water. Jongdae started telling a story of how Jongin used to scribble ballerina drawings onto the wall in crayon and try to blame their cat when his mum found out. They laughed, even Jongin who hid behind his hand and giggled. Sehun defended him proudly, saying it was good that he realised his passion at such a young age, it only allowed him to perfect it for his whole life and that now he was perfect. Jongdae and Chanyeol made exaggerated gagging noises while Baekhyun threw his head back and howled. Baekhyun looked around after he had calmed down and watched his friends tease each other, he was happy. He didn’t know if it was the alcohol in his system or the overwhelming sense of belonging but his eyes began to prick with tears. 

Baekhyun felt a hand wrap around his waist and he leaned into the comforting touch. Sehun whispered words of concern into his ear and Baekhyun simply replied with the excuse that he was tired and it was getting to him. 

Chanyeol noticed the exchange and stood up to announce his retirement from the night. 

“Are you coming, runt?” Chanyeol spoke up as he was pulling on his jacket and Baekhyun looked up like he couldn’t believe he was speaking to him. “I don’t want you to walk home alone,” is all Chanyeol said when he didn’t get an immediate reply. 

Baekhyun stood up after an encouraging pat on the back from Sehun and he pulled his coat on and zipped it up. They said their goodbyes and started on their walk home. 

Baekhyun was annoyed that Chanyeol had been avoiding him, but he understood. Right now he was only grateful that he was side by side with him again. 

“I guess it worked,” Baekhyun spoke up suddenly and Chanyeol flinched at the breech of silence. 

“What worked?” 

“Getting naked in front of you. I’m not usually that courageous but Jongin was sure that it would get your attention.” Baekhyun blushed at his own confession and Chanyeol choked on air. 

“That’s not why I asked you to walk home with me.” Chanyeol’s ears burned red and he couldn’t look anywhere but the ground beneath his feet. 

“I know. I’m just saying it helped.” Baekhyun giggled this time and Chanyeol’s mood shifted to annoyance. 

“That’s not why I asked -“ Chanyeol gave a sigh of exasperation, “I’m sorry for avoiding you. I just missed you.” 

Baekhyun smiled and said nothing, the silence was slowly driving Chanyeol insane until they passed a convenience store and Baekhyun suggested buying some alcohol. 

“Are you sure you can handle it?” Chanyeol scoffed, relieved that the tension was broken. 

“I’m not done with the night yet,” Baekhyun spoke with a lazy smile on his face and the universe reflected in his eyes. A feeling washed over Chanyeol that he couldn’t explain, so he simply walked into the store and came back out with 3 bottles of soju. 

Baekhyun led them into a park and under a tree, they opted to drink straight from the bottle rather than fussing with shot glasses. 

It was mid December, the air around them was crisp. The grass crunched underneath them every time they shifted, the only thing keeping them warm was the numb feeling from the alcohol. 

They lay on their backs and stared straight up to the stars, they sky was clear that night so Chanyeol was able to point out his favourite constellations and stars. He pointed out Sirius and Sirius B, gushing drunkenly about how they were his favourite and how one wasn’t complete without the other. He almost missed Baekhyun’s quiet comment of “That’s us,” as he finished talking. He didn’t know what to think, so he didn’t think at all. Turning onto his side he stared straight at Baekhyun’s face. 

“Tell me about the stars, Baekhyun. What do they mean?” Chanyeol sounded sober despite drinking more than Baekhyun. 

Baekhyun remembered Chanyeol’s comment about how astrology was nonsense and smiled before turning to face the giant. 

“The stars can tell you everything you need to know Chanyeol, if you pay close enough attention.” Baekhyun was whispering, hot air puffing out with every word. 

“What are the stars saying about me?” Chanyeol felt something heavy in his stomach, every inch of him numb and unmoving from the cold apart from his heart hammering against his chest. 

“They told me that you were ambitious, flirtatious, and slightly strange,” Baekhyun’s eyes twinkled and Chanyeol was beginning to believe that he actually held the universe in them. Baekhyun was reciting the information he gathered after finding out Chanyeol’s birthday from Jongin. He had run it through his mind a hundred times, piecing the information together in different ways to mean different things but after spending more time with Chanyeol, this made the most sense. 

Chanyeol lost himself in Baekhyun, forgetting the cold around them. Forgetting the frosty grass prickling his cheek, he understood in that moment that Baekhyun truly loved the stars as much as he did. He appreciated them, he knew what they meant to the world and the hole in Chanyeol’s heart had never felt so big. 

“What do the stars tell you, Chanyeol?” Baekhyun’s grin was lopsided, nose running from the cold and dripping sideways due to his positioning. 

“They don’t tell me things, they make me feel things,” Chanyeol’s voice was desperately serious, like he was afraid to be judged. 

Baekhyun nodded slowly, urging him to continue. 

“Sometimes they - they make me feel when something is going to happen in my life. They’ll let me know.” Chanyeol took a deep breath through his nose. 

“What have they told you recently?” Baekhyun’s heart sped up, contrasting the still life around them and making the situation more intense. 

“Something’s going to happen soon,” Chanyeol lifted his hand and rested it on Baekhyun’s cheek, stroking him gently with his thumb. Baekhyun closed his eyes and basked in the warmth it brought him, craving the heat. 

They felt it before they saw it. The first few flakes of snow fluttering down and settling in the grass around them. Baekhyun looked up first, allowing Chanyeol to retract his hand. They sat up and looked at each other, Baekhyun simply taking Chanyeol’s hand and helping him stand then pulling him out of the park and towards their homes. Alcohol bottles forgotten under the tree, nothing on their minds apart from getting into warmth. Baekhyun begins pulling Chanyeol past his apartment block and towards his own before Chanyeol stops him with a tug, “Jongdae’s staying at his parent’s house tonight.” He explained and Baekhyun allowed him to lead the way without saying anything in return. 

Chanyeol led them up to his floor and through into his dorm, pulling his own coat off before tugging at Baekhyun’s. He entered the small en suite bathroom and Baekhyun heard him turn on the shower, “You can shower first,” was all he offered as an explanation. Baekhyun watched silently as he moved around the room, hanging their coats and pulling out a new set of clothes for Baekhyun to wear for after his shower. Baekhyun accepted gratefully and shuffled into the small bathroom. 

He stripped down and stepped into the steaming water. He washed his hair thoroughly and scrubbed his body as best as he could, he didn’t know what to expect from tonight but he wanted to prepare for the best. Taking two fingers he circled his hole and rubbed until he was relaxed enough to dip his first finger in. He bit back whimpers of pain mixed with arousal and thrusted in and out slowly. It wasn’t the first time he had done this, but he was always doing it to himself so he couldn’t count any real experience points. 

His hole loosened with the building pleasure of his finger and he added another, this was usually all he could take but it was enough to get him off. His whimpers turned to breathy moans and whines, he was close to trying another finger when a knock on the door interrupted his preparation. 

“Is everything alright Baekhyun?” Chanyeol sounded concerned, Baekhyun figured he had been in there long enough to cause concern and so he dismissed Chanyeol with a promise that he’ll soon be out while pulling his fingers out of his hole. 

He dressed and existed with a flushed face, passing Chanyeol in one of his own t shirts with no pants on underneath. 

Chanyeol gulped and stumbled before locking the bathroom door behind him and taking a shower. He stepped out in nothing but a towel and found Baekhyun tucked under the cover of his bed rather than Jongdae’s. 

Baekhyun didn’t say anything when Chanyeol gave him a questioning stare, he silently pulled open the comforter as an invitation for Chanyeol to join him. He climbed in after him when he was done towel drying his hair, lying on his side mimicking the positions they were in at the park not too long ago. 

Chanyeol didn’t hesitate this time. He rested his hand on Baekhyun’s cheek and slowly pulled himself closer before slotting their lips together in a fairly innocent kiss. Baekhyun pressed too hard and Chanyeol pulled away at the harsh enthusiasm. Resting one hand on Baekhyun’s waist and the other holding him up by his elbow he met Baekhyun’s eyes, “Is this okay?” he whispered it so gently that Baekhyun was in disbelief that he had asked at all. He gave a slight nod and snaked his had down until it reached Chanyeol’s, he squeezed his hand gently in encouragement. 

“It’s okay Chanyeol. Please,” Baekhyun added when Chanyeol didn’t move. The shower and walk home seemed to have sobered them up, both grateful that alcohol hasn’t entirely influenced their decision. 

Chanyeol complied, leaning back down and kissing twice as hard to match Baekhyun’s charisma. Chanyeol licked and sucked on Baekhyun’s bottom lip, hoping the little one would invite him into his mouth. After 2 minutes, Chanyeol knew something wasn’t right. 

“Baekhyun,” he sounded breathless. 

Baekhyun didn’t give an answer, he simply gave a questioning hum. 

“Have you ever done this before?” Chanyeol sounded careful, like he wasn’t mocking him or trying to invade his privacy, simply wanting to know. 

Baekhyun blushed and opted to hide his face in Chanyeol’s neck, “I’m sorry,” came as a whisper and Chanyeol’s heart became wedged in his throat. 

“No don’t apologise, baby.” Chanyeol's voice was muffled by the kiss he landed on top of Baekhyun’s head, “Do you want to do this?” He pulled away this time and looked Baekhyun in the eye. 

Baekhyun nodded and gave a soft “please.” 

Chanyeol leaned back in for a soft kiss, holding Baekhyun’s face this time to control the pressure. He slid his hands up the shirt he was wearing, letting his fingertips trace over his soft stomach and ribs until they reached his nipples. He pinched them lightly and rubbed around it until he had Baekhyun panting into his mouth. 

Chanyeol stripped Baekhyun of the shirt completely, coming back down immediately to kiss down his neck and latch onto his right nipple. Chanyeol sucked and swirled his tongue around it while playing with the other, Baekhyun brought his hands down to the back of Chanyeol’s head and was torn between tugging him away or pushing him harder. 

Baekhyun’s soft moans never ceased, encouraging Chanyeol to kiss down his stomach until he reached Baekhyun’s inner thigh. He kissed and sucked at the skin, keeping a hold on his hips to stop the sudden thrusting. He hovered his mouth over Baekhyun’s erection and let his breath fan over it while he watched it twitch, he thought it was cute. He looked up and saw a wrecked Baekhyun staring down between his legs, his lips were puffy and slick with spit, his eyebrows furrowed and his chest heaving. 

“Chanyeol, is this what sex feels like?” Baekhyun’s expression was serious, body aroused and breath puffing through downturned lips showing how horny he was from a simple few kisses. 

Chanyeol let out a loud laugh and winked, “It’s gonna feel a lot better than this baby.” Baekhyun groaned at the response and let his head fall back onto the pillow before thrusting his hips up into the air to find some sort of friction and relieve himself. 

Seeing Baekhyun so desperate was driving Chanyeol insane, he couldn’t hold back any longer. He mouthed at the head of Baekhyun’s penis before taking it all down his throat. Baekhyun was letting out loud moans and his thrusts upwards had become quick and shallow, trying to chase his release. 

Chanyeol gagged slightly, Baekhyun’s length being more impressive than he thought. He pulled back and moved down towards his hole, he pushed Baekhyun’s legs back and spread his cheeks to watch his little pink hole twitch in anticipation. He massaged it with his fingers gently before dipping down to lick a long stripe from his hole to his ballsack. 

Baekhyun felt embarrassed, hands shooting down to push Chanyeol away with a whiny “stop.” 

Chanyeol moved back down towards his hole and muttered “I really really want to,” before beginning his assault licking at Baekhyun’s throbbing hole. Tongue pushing in and out before stopping randomly to suck on it. Baekhyun couldn’t handle it any longer, the overwhelming feeling left him a moaning mess with tears pricking his eyes. He tried closing his legs as he rolled onto his side but Chanyeol wasn’t allowing him. 

He spread his thighs once again and met Baekhyun’s wet lashes, “You were being so good for me, baby.” 

“Chanyeol, I need more.” Baekhyun spoke through heavy pants. 

“Ask nicely,” 

“Please.” Hearing Baekhyun say the word in his pathetically whiny voice turned Chanyeol on even more. There was already an obvious tent in the towel that he pulled away immediately after hearing Baekhyun beg. 

He opened his draw and pulled out a small bottle of lube and a strip of condoms. He poured the substance over his fingers before squirting it straight onto Baekhyun’s hole, watching it twitch at the feeling. 

“This is gonna hurt a little bit baby,” Chanyeol whispered before circling his hole and pushing his middle finger in, he watched it slide in easier than expected and he chuckled. “You’ve done this before baby? Do you like playing with your hole?” 

Baekhyun moaned loudly, nodding his head frantically. Chanyeol thought he couldn’t get any cuter. He started moving his finger in and out at a slow pace, Baekhyun was still slightly tense and Chanyeol didn’t want to hurt him. 

He carried on fingering him, whispering straight into his ear “Just relax baby, that’s it. Unclench, just enjoy it. I won’t hurt you.” 

Baekhyun found himself pushing down onto his finger, hips moving to meet it halfway and reach deeper. Chanyeol added a second and continued his slow deep thrusts, adding lube directly onto Baekhyun’s hole to ease the push and pull of his fingers. Baekhyun held his legs up against his chest, looking down between them to watch Chanyeol abuse his hole. 

“Chanyeol, I think I’m ready. Please put it in,” Baekhyun choked out a moan and hearing him ask so nicely was driving Chanyeol insane but he knew he had to be extra careful tonight. 

“Just one more finger baby, yeah?” Chanyeol slipped in a third finger and was able to thrust in and out easier at this point, nearly half of the lube used on Baekhyun’s hole. There was an obscene squelching noise filling the room along with Chanyeol’s heavy pants and Baekhyun’s whimpers. He sped up, watching Baekhyun’s hole turn red and puffy from sucking his fingers in so deeply. Chanyeol began fisting at his cock with his free hand, curving the fingers inside Baekhyun to find his prostate. After a few more thrusts Baekhyun’s hips stilled in their attempt to meet Chanyeol’s fingers and he let out a loud gasp. Chanyeol continued to massage the same spot he hit, watching Baekhyun squirm and beg beneath him for release. 

He couldn’t take it any longer, Baekhyun grabbed Chanyeol’s wrist and pulled his fingers out himself. Chanyeol’s dick twitched watching the excess lube spill out after. Baekhyun noticed the movement and made grabby hands for it, wanting it inside him. 

Chanyeol ripped open a condom, unable to hold out any longer. 

“Stop,” Baekhyun’s voice cracked, already hoarse from his panting and moaning. “I don’t want that,” he looked at the condom before looking Chanyeol in the eye. 

“Are you sure?” 

“I want to feel you, Chanyeol.” Baekhyun’s voice was so small. 

Chanyeol was going delirious, dick thinking before his brain could catch up, he rubbed a generous amount of lube on his dick and lined it up with Baekhyun’s hole. Not giving a warning before he slowly pushed in and bottomed out, basking in the tight heat. “I’m clean,” he gave almost as an afterthought. 

He started with slow, shallow thrusts that eventually became deeper with every encouraging moan that slipped Baekhyun’s mouth. Pouring lube onto Baekhyun’s hole regularly to stop the friction being too rough. Soon, he was holding Baekhyun’s legs back, giving deep, hard thrusts while watching Baekhyun shake and move upwards on the bed. Holding a hand out above him to stop himself from moving farther upwards, Baekhyun flung his other arm over his face.

Chanyeol pulled Baekhyun back down and gave a hard thrust, hitting his prostate dead on and earning a choked moan from Baekhyun. Baekhyun’s hips began moving down to meet Chanyeol’s thrusts and gasping every time it hit deeper inside of him. 

Baekhyun’s mouth was open, drooling at the sight of Chanyeol’s large form on top of him. Chanyeol knew he wouldn’t last for much longer, Baekhyun choking out “it feels so good,” or “please don’t stop,” every now and then pushed Chanyeol to piston in and out of him. The sounds of skin slapping and lube squelching only turning him on to go deeper until he could see the slight bulge of his cock showing in Baekhyun’s stomach. 

Baekhyun’s legs wrapped around Chanyeol and he stilled, feeling himself clench around Chanyeol's length and a wave of euphoria wash over him. Cumming untouched was something he had never experienced before, he didn’t know how to handle it until his head dizzied and his bones began to unwind, coming down from his high. Chanyeol sat back and gave quick shallow thrusts until he was releasing inside of Baekhyun’s bruised and oversensitive hole. 

Chanyeol let himself ride out his orgasm until his body fell forward and he hugged Baekhyun to his chest. He pulled out a moment later to get a wet towel and a bottle of water. He returned to find Baekhyun sat up with his legs hugged to his chest and his head resting on his knees. 

“Where did you go?” Baekhyun’s voice cracked, tears filling his eyes. 

“I need to clean you up,” Chanyeol motioned with the wet towel and Baekhyun let himself be spread open once more, enjoying the feeling of a warm towel wiping away the cum that had started leaking out of him. Chanyeol handed him the water next and urged him to drink before carrying him over to Jongdae’s bed and joining him after turning the lights out. Too tired to change his own sheets and too exhausted to put clothes on, he pulled Baekhyun towards his naked chest and let him sniffle into his bare skin. 

He shushed him quietly and ran his fingers through his hair while Baekhyun let out his emotions. 

“Why are you crying?” He asked after Baekhyun had quieted down. 

“I’m just happy,” he explained through hiccuped sighs and the void in Chanyeol’s heart seemed to fill slightly.

“Thank you, Baekhyun.” Chanyeol spoke into his hair and held on tighter. Allowing himself to fall asleep only when he heard Baekhyun’s sleeping whimpers. 

The next morning was a blur. It consisted of Jongdae bursting in during the early hours of the morning, screaming at the fact that Chanyeol and Baekhyun were naked in bed together, screeching at the fact that it was  _ his _ bed, then calling and sharing the news with Jongin. 

Baekhyun was beyond embarrassed, pulling the comforter over his head while Chanyeol got up to push Jongdae out of their room in all his naked glory. 

Baekhyun sat up to get dressed a moment after he heard the lock click but stopped at the pain shooting up his back. 

He let out a shout of pain and Chanyeol ran to him after pulling on his underwear. “It’s gonna hurt for a while Baek but it’ll get better once you rest,” he explained it and helped Baekhyun stand on shaky legs. 

Chanyeol dressed Baekhyun slowly, promising that they can have breakfast and bathe later. Baekhyun would’ve refused if not for the promise of food, he clutched his rumbling stomach and nodded his head while Chanyeol finished lacing his shoes for him. 

Baekhyun pulled the hood of Chanyeol’s sweater to cover his face, the walk of shame past Jongdae being enough with his obvious limp, he didn’t need his red face to add to it. They didn’t look back, not even when Jongdae started his cackling laugh. 

They ended up in an American café, nursing hot coffee and a stack of pancake topped with cream and strawberries. Baekhyun’s bottom cushioned against 2 fluffy pillows in an armchair too big for him. 

Chanyeol explained his research to Baekhyun, told him the reason he went to see him that day when they first met. Baekhyun listened carefully to everything Chanyeol said, putting it together carefully in his mind. “And I don’t know why it’s not emitting soft x-rays like the other white dwarfs which have been studied, for some reason this one’s rays are a lot stronger,” Chanyeol huffed out and slouched in his seat looking defeated. 

“Is there a red giant near this star?” Baekhyun asked, his head throbbing as he tried to make sense of it all. Chanyeol nodded slowly and his heart rate increased, since when did Baekhyun know about actual space and not just the horoscopes he read? “It sounds like the white dwarf is pulling material away from the red giant,”  Baekhyun said it so casually. 

Chanyeol nearly choked on his coffee, the information hitting him in the gut like a punch. “Would that cause it’s x rays to become stronger?” 

“I’m pretty sure it would. The hot gas would merge and cause them to become more intense, right?” Baekhyun looked sure of himself despite adding “but it’s just a theory, theories don’t need to be true. They just need to make sense.” 

Baekhyun was right, Chanyeol was only submitting his theory, with evidence and explanation of course. But Baekhyun’s theory made sense, he almost couldn’t believe it. He stared wide eyed, eyebrows ruffled and mouth slightly open. 

“I learned about the scientific meaning of stars when I was first interested in the spiritual side, Chanyeol. Trust me on this.” He said it with a glint in his eye and Chanyeol had never trusted someone so much in his life. He wanted to kiss him, ignoring the other people in the café he stood up and leaned over the table planting a wet, grateful kiss onto his lips and pulling away with a loud smack. Baekhyun blushed and lifted his cup to his lips to hide his smile. “Is this you admitting that astrology is better than astronomy?” He teased Chanyeol with a scrunched nose. 

“I didn’t say that,” Chanyeol rolled his eyes but smirked at Baekhyun’s expression. 

—-

Every night for two weeks, Chanyeol worked on his research. Gathering appropriate graphs and charts to add to his folder of evidence proving his new theory.  Baekhyun visited regularly, bringing meals and making sure Chanyeol was eating enough. They’d kiss, things would get heated, Baekhyun would start undressing or start bouncing on Chanyeol’s dick from his place straddling his lap. Chanyeol would stop them before it went too far, claiming that he was too tired from working on his research to do anything further. Baekhyun understood, it was winter break and everyone else was relaxing while Chanyeol was up from early mornings until late evenings, sometimes forgetting to eat. Baekhyun had to leave at one point to go back home, he had to see his family and he promised that he’d see Chanyeol soon. 

The night they reunited was New Year’s eve, he and Baekhyun were at Jongdae’s family party. Baekhyun was wearing the bracelet Chanyeol had bought him for Christmas while Chanyeol wore the sweater that Baekhyun had gotten for him. They looked disgustingly cheesy for the whole night. Jongdae had too much to drink at one point and started reciting the story of how he caught them together that one night and Chanyeol had to force a coffee down him so he could sober up. 

A mere few minutes before midnight and Sehun had pulled Baekhyun into a corner. “How is everything lover boy?” He was teasing, and Baekhyun blushed. His cheeks tinted pink from the nickname and the glass of champagne he had been drinking. “I’m glad you’re happy. You deserve it,” is all Sehun could say when the only reply he got was a few weak hits to his chest. He spun them both around and pushed Baekhyun towards Chanyeol during the countdown to midnight before stumbling into Jongin’s arms and pressing a sloppy kiss to his cheek as a new years kiss. 

Chanyeol tilted Baekhyun’s face towards him and kissed him softly, feeling the void in his heart seal over almost completely. 

They ended up in the guest bedroom where they were staying, the party was still going on downstairs but the two wanted only the company of each other. 

“Stop being so scandalous Chanyeol,” Baekhyun giggled and covered his eyes as Chanyeol pulled his shirt off. 

“I know you like what you see, baby,” Chanyeol’s voice was deeper than usual, probably due to the alcohol. He climbed onto the bed and crawled towards where Baekhyun was sitting against the headboard. 

“You haven’t even asked me to be your boyfriend yet, how dare you share my bed.” Baekhyun was joking, but the realisation had struck Chanyeol. He was so wrapped up already acting like a couple that he hadn’t bothered to officially ask. 

Chanyeol climbed off the bed and bent down onto one knee, Baekhyun felt sick at the sight but remained silent until Chanyeol spoke first. 

“Byun Baekhyun...” he started speaking and Baekhyun had the crazy thought that he might propose. “will you be my boyfriend?” he continued, tilting his head to the left, “please?” 

Baekhyun grabbed Chanyeol by the sides of his face and pulled him up so he could kiss him messily. Tongues poking and sliding over each other, hands moving down and grabbing desperately at the front of Chanyeol’s shirt. Chanyeol wasted no time undressing the both of them, they hadn’t touched each other properly since that one night and it had felt like forever. 

Baekhyun flipped them over once Chanyeol had pulled off every last article of clothing. He kissed down Chanyeol’s chest and stopped just above his navel, grabbing his cock by the base and staring at it determinedly. Chanyeol would think he was cute now too if he wasn’t absolutely terrified for Baekhyun’s first blow job. 

Chanyeol stopped him just before he moved down with an open mouth, “You don’t have to Baekhyun.” 

“I really really want to,” was all Baekhyun said before giving kittenish licks to the head. He paused for a moment, contemplating the taste and feel on his tongue, and then he moved back down and lapped at the clear beads of pre cum gathering on the head of his penis. Chanyeol groaned and threw his head back, Baekhyun moving more courageously by sucking part of the length into his mouth. Chanyeol rested his hands on the back of Baekhyun’s head and stroked his hair, urging him to continue but go at his own pace. 

Desperate to please, Baekhyun moved down the length quickly, bobbing his head and loving how it stretched his lips, spit gathering at the sides of his mouth. He worked his hands on whatever his mouth couldn’t cover and brought his free hand down to finger at his own hole.

The heaviness on his tongue and the shallow depth his fingers reached inside of him made him moan around Chanyeol’s cock causing him to look down and see the hand disappearing behind Baekhyun. He pulled Baekhyun up with a soft “fuck, come here,” and kissed him into oblivion. 

Chanyeol reached behind him and pulled out his fingers before trying to push his own in. His fingers were a lot thicker than Baekhyun’s so the struggle was expected. He tried to keep thrusting through the disappearing spit that Baekhyun had used for makeshift lube but the pained gasps leaving Baekhyun’s mouth made him pull out completely. 

Baekhyun shifted from Chanyeol’s lap and rummaged around the bedside table draw to find coconut oil, and vaseline. He held up both to Chanyeol, hoping he would know which one was best. Chanyeol pointed to the coconut oil and gave a silent prayer that everything would go smoothly. 

Baekhyun climbed back onto the bed and shuffled over to Chanyeol on his knees, erection bouncing along proudly. 

As soon as Chanyeol had Baekhyun back in his lap he wasted no time in coating his fingers in the thick substance and warming it up between them. He started off with one finger but added a second one soon after. “Did you already do this today baby?” Chanyeol asked when his second finger slipped in so easily. 

“Yes, I’m sorry.” Baekhyun bounced up and down on the fingers, arms around Chanyeol’s neck and face nuzzled into his shoulder. Chanyeol didn’t know if he enjoyed the desperate, slutty side of Baekhyun or if he wanted to start punishing him for touching himself so often. 

He continued fingering him, rubbing circles into his back and adding another finger when he felt Baekhyun relax completely. He lined his dick up and pulled Baekhyun down onto himself, he could feel Baekhyun clenching and twitching around him. His hole was so tight Chanyeol felt like it was swallowing his dick completely. 

Chanyeol remained completely still, letting Baekhyun have fun and experimentally ride his dick to find the perfect angle to hit is prostate. Chanyeol only realising what he was doing when Baekhyun stayed in the same position; leaned back, deep, riding motion to help him reach his climax. 

Chanyeol grabbed Baekhyun’s hips and stilled him in mid air, adjusting his own position before he began thrusting upwards into the tight heat. His dick throbbed at the sight of Baekhyun’s blissed out face. He flipped them over with easily and held Baekhyun open while he fucked into him sloppy and deep. 

Baekhyun’s begs of “more, please, harder oh fuck.” Baekhyun came after one tug of his dick while Chanyeol never stopped fucking him through his orgasm, Baekhyun’s high pitched moans breaking his voice due to the overstimulation. 

Chanyeol pinned him down and fucked him into the mattress through Baekhyun’s delirious whimpers of “more please, don’t stop.” He pulled out and spilled all over his chest, some of it hitting Baekhyun’s face and chin to which he subconsciously darted his little pink tongue out to lick at curiously, humming in contentment when he was able to scoop some of it up onto his tongue and swallow it. 

Chanyeol pulled on his dick, squeezing every drop out to decorate his boyfriend. He let his cock fall limp as he stood up and retrieved tissue from the en suite bathroom, not wanting to use Jongdae’s parent’s towels to wipe up his and and Baekhyun’s cum. 

Chanyeol worked quickly, putting everything away and making sure Baekhyun was doing well. Afterwards they were both clean and sated, cuddled against one another under the covers, sharing body heat to battle the cold. 

Chanyeol was beginning to love skin to skin cuddling, the intimacy and the reassurance it made him feel adding to the sheer love of having Baekhyun as close to him as possible. 

“Baekhyun?” Chanyeol stared at Baekhyun illuminated by the moonlight, letting his eyes drink in every detail and feature about him. He traced his finger over his freckles, Baekhyun kissing his finger when he reached the one above his lip, he felt down the bridge of his nose and through his short eyebrow hairs. Chanyeol appreciated having Baekhyun in front of him, as if he might disappear at any moment and he was desperate to let him know how much he loved having him around. 

Baekhyun answered him with a tired“yes?” His eyes were closed from fatigue but he was awake and smiling. 

“Baekhyun I -“ Chanyeol took a deep breath and rested his hand along Baekhyun’s neck, “I got a job. My research - your theory - it worked. They were impressed, they even said they’d suggest it to NASA.” Chanyeol’s voice cracked, this meant a lot to him and Baekhyun knew it.

Baekhyun opened his eyes slowly and his smile grew, hand coming to rest on Chanyeol’s face so his thumb could wipe away any tears that fell. “I’m so proud of you, Chanyeol. You’ll do great in England,” Baekhyun’s heart was breaking, of course it was. They had only just fallen into one another, their relationship was still fresh and Baekhyun didn’t know if they’d last long distance but he refused to be sad in this moment. 

“They offered me a job in England,” Chanyeol said after sniffling and Baekhyun nodded in acknowledgment, “I rejected it.” 

Baekhyun felt the air leave his lungs, ever since Chanyeol had confided about him about his struggles with his research Baekhyun knew that if he helped him he would risk losing him, and it was something he was prepared to sacrifice for Chanyeol’s own happiness. Weeks of mentally preparing himself had been wiped from his brain so suddenly, he almost didn’t know how to react. 

“What do you mean? You’ve wanted that job for years Chanyeol, why wouldn’t you take it?” Baekhyun was confused more than anything, relief making his body feel numb and confusion making his blood run cold. 

“I have wanted that job for years. But I realised I want something more now,” Chanyeol’s tears finally spilled over and Baekhyun was overwhelmed with the situation, having never experienced Chanyeol crying. “I didn’t need to bring the right elements onto my side to do better Baekhyun, I just needed you.” Chanyeol understood everything now. Realisation hitting him once he understood what Baekhyun’s words meant from their first fateful meeting. Baekhyun was all he needed, the void in his heart was complete now, infused with Baekhyun and all the ways he made him feel. “It’s enough just having you by my side, Baekhyun,” Chanyeol spoke again through his hiccups when Baekhyun still hadn’t answered him. 

Baekhyun lay there on his side, tears and snot dripping sideways and onto the pillow as he kept both hands on Chanyeol’s face to swipe away any offending tears that could wet his boyfriends face. His mind processed everything slowly, ensuring that he wasn’t mistaken in anything he was hearing. He had an lump in his throat that wouldn’t budge no matter how many times he swallowed or filled his lungs with air. 

“Where will you work instead?” Baekhyun offered a sad smile, he knew that Chanyeol was content in his decision yet knowing he rejected his dream job because of him was a bittersweet feeling. 

“Korea astronomy and space science institute,” Chanyeol said through his sniffles, proud smile on his face matching Baekhyun’s. 

So Chanyeol would be moving to Daejeon, Baekhyun couldn’t complain. “At least it’s not England,” he said and Chanyeol laughed, purely out of happiness rather than genuine amusement. They laid together, facing each other in the night, party still going on downstairs despite the early hours of the morning crawling towards them. Baekhyun shifted closer and wrapped an arm and a leg around Chanyeol’s naked form and Chanyeol let himself be held, not remembering when he had last felt so vulnerable. “I think you’re admitting that astrology is better than astronomy, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun said it so quietly it almost went unnoticed by Chanyeol who grumbled in protest much to Baekhyun’s enjoyment. Baekhyun giggled and held on tighter. 

Closing their eyes and letting their breath even out, they both felt it; what the stars had been trying to do for them, trying to tell them in different ways. 

\---

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Terms:

White dwarf – a star which has used up all of its fuel. Only the burning core remains, almost like a dying star.

Red Giant - a very large star of high luminosity and low surface temperature. Red giants are thought to be in a late stage of evolution when no hydrogen remains in the core to fuel nuclear fusion.


End file.
